Disney is readying to launch its own stand-alone streaming service that will rely heavily on Star Wars and Marvel Studios brands, but a Disney executive says the company is not trying to harmNetflix in the process. Kevin Mayer, Disney’s chief strategy officer, told Peter Kafka at Recode’s CodeCon that Disney isn’t even really looking to compete with Netflix. Mayer’s comments echo what his boss, CEO Bob Iger, said during last week's investors call. Disney is looking to offer quality series and original movies based on the company’s most popular brands but won’t offer the scale of choice in titles that Netflix currently does. "I personally like Netflix. They’ve got a great product," Mayer said. "They do exceedingly well in the marketplace. What we’re doing, we’re not trying to hurt or kill Netflix."

Mayer’s comments aren’t too surprising considering the company isn’t necessarily ending its relationship with Netflix stone cold. Iger said Netflix "will have rights to the films that were made in ’16, ’17 and ’18 for quite a long period of time," reiterating that it’s only new films Netflix will no longer be able to carry. Netflix subscribers will still be able to find older Disney titles on the streaming service, which serves more than 100 million people worldwide, but will have to sign up for Disney’s streaming platform to watch newer titles.

"Hi. I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs." "Hi. I'm Bob Iger and I like adding new attractions to all the Disney parks so we can lure more visitors who will pay our outrageous prices for parking, admission, food and souvenirs and I can wind up making even more money."

Disneyland Paris to get Marvel, Frozen and Star Wars attractions in $2.4-billion expansion

Disney today released a hilarious preview of Wreck-It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet, which opens November 21 and looks to be funnier than the first Wreck-It Ralph. "It's like it's looking into my soul." "Yeah, that's gonna haunt me for a long time."

Only weeks after the Walt Disney Company reported better-than-expected profit, a survey at the company's Anaheim theme parks found that 73% of employees questioned don't earn enough to pay for such expenses as rent, food and gas. The online survey, funded by labor groups pushing for higher wages for workers at Disneyland and California Adventure Park, also said that 11% of resort employees have been homeless or have not had a place of their own in the last two years.

"Disneyland employees report high instances of homelessness, food insecurity, ever-shifting work schedules, extra-long commutes, and low wages," the study said. Disney called the survey inaccurate, noting that it was offered only to union workers at the resort and claiming there were no controls preventing disgruntled employees from answering multiple times.

Disney’s live-action Mulan reboot is being pushed back by more than a year. The studio shifted the release from November 2, 2018, to March 27, 2020. Directed by Niki Caro, the movie stars Chinese singer-actress Liu Yifei, also known as Crystal Liu. The original Mulan in 1998, featuring the voices of Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer and BD Wong, grossed $304.3 million worldwide.

Disney's live action/CGI Christopher Robin movie will open in theaters August 3. Ewan McGregor (Star Wars, Trainspotting, Fargo) stars as a grown-up Christopher Robin, a successful businessman who no longer has any imagination -- until he gets re-acquainted with Winnie-The-Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and his other childhood friends. Disney just released a short preview -- Hurry and watch!

A group of workers from the Disneyland Resort waved signs, chanted and demonstrated outside Walt Disney Co.'s shareholders meeting in Houston today, demanding the company provide a "living wage."The demonstration was the latest effort by a coalition of unions at the Anaheim theme parks that is pushing Disney executives to raise wages for the resort's 30,000 workers during a profitable period for the Burbank media giant. Three of those unions are currently negotiating contracts.

As part of its initiative, the labor groups released an online survey last month that found that 73% of Disneyland and California Adventure Park employees who responded don't earn enough to pay for such expenses as rent, food and gas. In addition, 11% said they have been homeless or have not had a place of their own in the last two years.

Normally there are hundreds of thousands of people in the Disney parks and each attraction has a wait time of at least 90 minutes. Disney allowed only a few people into the parks while the Google Maps crew was shooting video. We can see the parks on Google now -- but we know that if we visit any of the parks in person, all we'll see is hundreds of thousands of people and long lines.

Google Maps Street View, the maps feature that offers panoramic views of real-life locales, now features Disney theme parks including Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, California Adventure and Walt Disney World. The highly-detailed maps offer a 360-degree virtual walking tour that can also sync with VR headsets for those who are really looking to get immersed.